


White Lies

by MirrorMystic



Series: Tailwind [3]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Gen, Multi, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 07:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10917045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirrorMystic/pseuds/MirrorMystic
Summary: Five lies, spoken with confidence. Five doubts, whispered in the dark.A day in the life of the Phantom Thieves, starting in sunlight, ending in fog...





	White Lies

**Author's Note:**

> A third entry in my Tailwind series, after 'Small Steps' and 'Two of a Kind'. I hope you all enjoy the read.

~*~  
  
Ever since Shiho Suzui stepped off the roof of Shujin Academy, she’d had vivid, recurring dreams. In one, she’s sitting on a subway platform, bathed in an eerie red light. In another, she’s having her fortune told by a girl in blue with butterflies in her hair.  
  
Since she got out of the hospital, she’d started having a third: a dream of riding on horseback through a forest, banner flying in the breeze.  
  
It was from this particular dream that Shiho awoke, sprawled on a spare futon on Ann’s bedroom floor. She raised her arms above her head and stretched, sighing. She could still feel the echoes of her dream; the ghost of a bow and arrow in her hands, the caress of the wind in her hair. She ground the heels of her palms into her eyes, blinking the sleep away, shaking the phantoms from her fingers.  
  
She looked up at Ann, an undignified heap face-down in her pillow, hair arrayed every which way. She was half-falling out of bed, one arm hanging off the edge and brushing against the floor.  
  
Shiho reached forward and tucked a lock of hair behind Ann’s ear. It did little to tame her wild blonde mane- it was like trying to use a brush and dustpan to clean up after a hurricane- but nonetheless, it brought a smile to Shiho’s face.  
  
Ann Takamaki. Her joy. Her light.  
  
_I see you’re still as smitten as ever._  
  
Shiho’s smile faded.  
  
Shiho brought two things with her when she left the hospital: the dreams, and the voices.  
  
_You’re pathetic_ , the foul voice whispered in her head.  
  
“Shush,” Shiho hissed.  
  
Ann stirred. She pushed up off her bed, hoisting herself up onto her elbows.  
  
Shiho’s heart skipped a beat. Ann was an angel in the morning light, her flaxen hair shining like a crown. Her lips curled into a beatific, if drowsy, smile.  
  
“Good morning,” Ann purred.  
  
Hearing those words, in Ann’s smoky, early morning voice, was a lethal combination. Shiho clapped a hand over her heart as if it might physically burst out of her chest.  
  
“Good- Good morning,” Shiho said, swallowing hard. She realized she was staring. “...Ann… you look-”  
  
“Terrible. I know.” Ann nodded to the dresser. “Pass me my brush?”  
  
Shiho did so. Ann’s finger curled around hers and squeezed, for just a moment, before pulling away.  
  
“Time to tame the lion,” Ann grinned, setting to work on her tangled mess of blonde waves. Shiho found herself struck by a sudden, absurd envy- not for Ann’s hair, which was indeed lovely, but for Ann’s _brush_.  
  
_You’re obsessed,_ came the whisper.  
  
“Be quiet,” Shiho exhaled.  
  
“Huh?” Ann blinked.  
  
“Nothing,” Shiho said quickly. “You stay here. I’ll get breakfast ready.”  
  
“Breakfast? Oh, Shiho- Shiho, wait-” Ann protested and followed her down the hall, her brush lodged in her hair.  
  
~*~  
  
“Shiho, you don’t have to-”  
  
“Shh,” Shiho shushed. She caught Ann’s shoulder as she tried to stand and pushed her back down into her seat. “Really, it’s no trouble.”  
  
“You’re my _guest_ ,” Ann pouted, her brush still hanging tangled in her hair. “You don’t have to cook for me.”  
  
Shiho smiled. It wasn’t like she was even doing much _cooking_ \- she’d reheated leftover rice and miso soup. The closest she got to cooking was holding a pair of prepackaged salmon fillets under the broiler.  
  
“You should have a traditional breakfast at least once in your life,” Shiho murmured. “Although, I looked, and I couldn’t find any natto…”  
  
“I’ll be damned if I ever keep natto in _my_ house,” Ann grumbled.  
  
“You need to _eat_ ,” Shiho pressed, joining Ann at the table. “Real food, I mean. What were you going to do, just eat breakfast at the crepe stand?”  
  
Ann’s damning silence spoke for itself.  
  
“ _Ann_ ,” Shiho scolded.  
  
“People have crepes for breakfast!” Ann said, defensive.  
  
“Not the ones filled with _ice cream_ ,” Shiho teased.  
  
They ate together, daylight streaming in through the kitchen window. They moved around each other with the comfort and ease of a pair who had done this countless times before. For now, at least, the poisonous voice in Shiho’s head saw fit to keep quiet.  
  
“Did your parents say when they’d be back?” Shiho asked gently.  
  
“No. It’s some work thing. Who knows how long it’ll take,” Ann shrugged, flippant, but unable to meet Shiho’s eyes. “It doesn’t bother me. It just means I have the house all to myself.”  
  
“Does it ever get… lonely?” Shiho wondered.  
  
“...Yeah,” Ann admitted. “This place is too big when it’s just me here. Too many high ceilings. Too many empty rooms.”  
  
Ann exhaled, eyes distant. Shiho silently noted the framed family portrait on the kitchen counter- Ann as a child, her hair done up in pigtails, swinging between her parents, hand in hand. She barely came up to her parents’ waists. There were other photos of Ann framed around the house- single portraits, school photos. But there were no pictures of Ann with her parents where she was any older than in grade school.  
  
“Someday, I’ll get my own place, some tiny little piece-of-shit coffin apartment,” Ann murmured. “It’ll be tiny. But it’ll feel cozy. Lived in. It’ll feel like a real home.”  
  
~*~  
  
Shiho did the dishes while Ann got dressed, having finally won her battle against her bedhead.  
  
“Shiho?” Ann called from the other room.  
  
“Yes?” Shiho answered.  
  
“Have you seen my running shoes?”  
  
“They’re still in your school bag,” Shiho said. “You went to get them cleaned, remember?”  
  
A shuffle. Two thumps on the floor.  
  
“Thanks!” Ann called.  
  
Shiho smiled as she wiped a soup bowl dry with a hand towel, bathed in sunlight from the open window. This was all so… normal. So soothing.  
  
Waking up to her smile. Saying good morning. Making her breakfast. Brushing her hair. All this, she had already, without any melodramatic _confession_. What would telling her matter now? Really, how much would change?  
  
_You’re being selfish_ , came the voice, and for once, she found herself agreeing with it.  
  
She already had more than enough.  
  
What else could Ann give her? Chocolate on Valentine’s Day? A kiss at the door?  
  
Ann’s voice drifted to her from the doorway, and Shiho pushed away that fruitless, treacherous desire.  
  
“I’m gonna head out,” Ann said, checking the fit of her shoes.  
  
“Where to?” Shiho asked, joining her in the threshold.  
  
“I’m meeting up with Ryuji,” Ann explained. “We’re gonna do some training. Maybe get a run in.”  
  
Shiho looked down, shifting her weight on her legs. Ann’s eyes went wide.  
  
“Oh, Shiho, I’m so sorry. That was so-”  
  
“I’m okay,” Shiho said, offering a pained smile. The truth was, though she’d only been standing a few minutes to wash the dishes, they were already starting to ache. A walk was an effort. A morning run, impossible. “Tell Ryuji I said hello.”  
  
“I will,” Ann nodded. “And we’re still on for lunch at the diner in Shibuya, right?”  
  
“Of course,” Shiho nodded. “I’ll see you at the station.”  
  
Shiho offered her hands, and Ann took them. It came naturally to her; a reflex.  
  
Their eyes met, just a moment too long.  
  
“I… um.” Ann blinked, the faintest hint of red tinging her cheek. “I’ll… I’ll see you.”  
  
“Yeah,” Shiho smiled. “Take care.”  
  
Ann gave Shiho’s hands one last squeeze, and then she was out the door. Shiho exhaled, taking in the quiet that settled over the house, the spacious rooms bathed in daylight but ultimately empty.  
  
_It always ends like this,_ whispered the voice in her head.  
  
“Be quiet,” Shiho snapped, but there was no one there to hear.  
  
~*~  
  
**_I._** _I’m fine on my own. (I’m nothing without you.)_ _  
__  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_ When Ann told Shiho she was going to meet Ryuji for some training, well, she wasn’t lying. Not entirely. She just left out the part where she and Ryuji were going to do it in the world of the collective unconsciousness, holding the literal inner demons of some hapless Tokyoite at gunpoint.  
  
“Enough, human!” sputtered their quarry, a Robin-Hood-looking fellow dressed in green, with purple skin and a nice hat. “I yield!”  
  
“Not yet, you don’t,” Ryuji growled, a dangerous grin on his face.  
  
“Give it up!” Ann demanded. “Let’s see your cash!”  
  
“T-Take it!” The demon gasped, turning out its pockets. Crumpled bills and grimy yen coins clattered onto the pavement.  
  
Ann nodded to Ryuji. Ryuji lifted his shotgun and rested it against his shoulder.  
  
“Alright,” Ryuji said, jerking his head down the tunnel. “Get out of here. Beat it!”  
  
“Humans are such dreadful creatures…” The demon muttered, and scurried off into the dark.  
  
Ann and Ryuji shared a look, and their tough guy images shattered. They laughed, crouching down and counting up their take. For manifestations of the collective unconsciousness, their money was apparently perfectly legal tender.  
  
“Oh man,” Ryuji snickered, scooping crumpled bills into a duffel bag that Akira, once upon a time, had written ‘FUNDRAISING’ on in fat black marker. “Is it just me, or are these green guys way more loaded than the others?”  
  
“We’re getting good at this,” Ann grinned. “Wonder what that says about us.”  
  
“I’ve almost got enough to pay Akira back for that trip to the amusement park,” Ryuji grinned. “Which means after that… You, me, that fancy-ass buffet at the Wilton Hotel. What do you say?”  
  
“Will it be just like last time?” Ann smirked. “You’ll get all meat, and I’ll get all dessert?”  
  
“Hell yeah! The ol’ Steak n’ Cake!”  
  
“That… sounds _delicious_. It’s a date, then!”  
  
“It’s not a _date_ ,” Ryuji rolled his eyes. “I swear, you and Akira always gotta make it weird…”  
  
“You love it.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
Ryuji zipped up their “fundraising” bag and slung it over one shoulder, his shotgun propped up against the other. The darkness of Mementos sprawled out around them, an otherworldly place made in the mockery of subway tunnels, lit only by an eerie red light. He and Ann started walking along the wooden tracks, prowling for their next target- and their next payday.  
  
“So what’re you gonna spend your cut on?” Ryuji asked, strolling down the tunnel.  
  
“You know, I’m torn,” Ann shrugged, matching Ryuji’s languid pace. “Devil Hunter 5’s coming out in, what, a week? But I heard they’re _also_ doing an HD remake of 4…”  
  
Ryuji snorted. “You already put, like, 250 hours into 4. You’re really gonna buy it again for some nice textures and extra pixels?”  
  
“Oooh, but I need to! They’re adding these bonus bosses called ‘Apex Demons’-”  
  
“250 hours, Ann! That’s, like, two weeks!”  
  
“It’s not!”  
  
“Yes it is!”  
  
“Only a week and a half…” Ann pouted, delving further into the depths.  
  
~*~  
  
A Shadow shrieked and disintegrated in a plume of fire. It vanished into smoke and inky darkness, leaving a nonplussed Ann standing in its wake.  
  
“Whoops,” she said, sheepish.  
  
“Aww, Ann!” Ryuji whined. “Don’t torch their _cash_ , too…”  
  
“Sorry,” Ann smiled.  
  
“It’s alright,” Ryuji said, easing the bag slung over his shoulder. “We’ve been at it for awhile. Maybe we should think about heading back…”  
  
Their little ‘fundraising’ trip had been fruitful, indeed, leaving their pockets heavier and their hearts stronger- a little too strong, in fact. Most of the Shadows at this depth were simply fleeing at the sight of them, and those that stood their ground were obliterated before they could give up the goods.  
  
Ann didn’t mind. They’d already gathered a small fortune- by high-schooler standards, at least- and now, she was just enjoying a relaxing stroll with her best friend.    
  
Ann smiled. When did she and Ryuji get so close? They knew each other in middle school, but they weren’t particularly good friends. It just snuck up on them, after Akira transferred to Shujin in April- it just _happened_ , a little bit of warmth that got swept up and lost in the mayhem of the past few months.  
  
One rainy day in April, they were just two of the school’s outcasts, keeping each other at arms’ length- a girl everyone thought was easy, a guy everyone knew for picking fights. Just four months ago, Ann wouldn’t have fought for him. Wouldn’t have died for him. Hell, four months ago, she wasn’t even calling him by his first name.  
  
Just look at them now. Those were really busy months.  
  
And Shiho had been gone for almost all of it.  
  
Ann stopped in her tracks, heaving a sigh. Ryuji glanced back at her over his shoulder.  
  
“...Whatcha’ thinking about?” Ryuji asked.  
  
“Shiho,” Ann said softly.  
  
“That sounds like you,” Ryuji grinned.  
  
Ann made a face. “I don’t know what _that’s_ supposed to mean…”  
  
“Forget it,” Ryuji waved the thought away, but something stopped him. He caught Ann’s eyes.  
  
“...Um. Actually…” Ryuji asked, suddenly serious. “...How _have_ things been with you and Shiho, lately?”  
  
Ann stopped. Blinked. “They’re fine…? Where did _that_ come from?”  
  
“Nothing, it’s nothing… it’s… I dunno, something Akira said...”  
  
Ann put her hand on her hip. “ _What_ did Akira say?”  
  
“Alright, alright,” Ryuji said. “It was just, y’know, when we were leaving the amusement park a couple days ago. You were taking Shiho back to the station, and I was with Akira, and… I dunno. He just said you two looked good together, that’s all.”  
  
“Did he really say that…?” Ann murmured. She shook her head. “Wait, no! It’s- It’s not like that-”  
  
Ann saw the dubious look Ryuji was giving her. She sighed, defeated, red creeping onto her cheeks.  
  
“...It’s… a _little_ like that. Maybe. I’m not sure. I’m still… figuring it out.”  
  
Ryuji nodded, an earnest look in his eyes. “I feel that. I think we’re in the same boat.”  
  
“Yeah?” Ann sighed. “...Look, I still haven’t told her anything- and- and you! You better not say anything, either!”  
  
“Dude, I wasn’t gonna,” Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Hey. Realtalk? I know this isn’t any of my business…”  
  
“He says, and then _keeps talking_ ,” Ann grumbled.  
  
“...but why haven’t you said anything to her?”  
  
“Because there’s nothing _to_ say. Not yet. I don’t know,” Ann groaned. “I told you, I’m still figuring it out. Maybe I could’ve said something the day Shiho got discharged, but then she told me she was transferring out of Shujin, moving to the countryside… I don’t know, okay? She just got out of the hospital, she’s been going through a lot. It just… never seemed like the right time.”  
  
“Alright,” Ryuji shrugged. “But… you _are_ gonna tell her, yeah?”  
  
“I will,” Ann said softly. “Once I figure out what to say.”  
  
Ryuji nodded, somber. “Don’t leave it too long.”  
  
Neither of them knew what to say after that. So, they just started walking, slowly tracing the lengthy path up out of the shadowed depths and back to the comforting light of reality.  
  
“You surprise me, sometimes,” Ann admitted, casually, as they picked their way through the tunnels. “You can be a real sweetheart.”  
  
“Careful, Ann,” Ryuji grinned. “You almost said something _nice_ about me.”  
  
“Shut up. I’m serious. Just now, you were really… I dunno. You were being really sweet.”  
  
“You think so?” Ryuji shrugged. “Well, thanks. I guess Akira’s been rubbing off on me.”  
  
“Geez. I sure hope you’re buying him dinner, first.”  
  
“Annnnnd now it’s weird…”  
  
~*~  
  
They rose through the tunnels of Mementos, every surface bathed in that otherworldly red light. The trek up to the entrance was turning out to be a lot longer than they thought. Shadows shrieked and scurried away as they walked past, sparing them from having to fight, but they still had to make the long walk back.  
  
“Oh man,” Ryuji muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. “This is a slog.”  
  
“‘Long is the way, and hard, that out of darkness leads up to the light’,” Ann recited, her breathing ragged. “...That’s John Milton’s _Paradise Lost_ , y’know.”  
  
“Sounds like some stuff Makoto would read,” Ryuji groaned. “Only thing _I’ve_ lost is feeling in my legs.”  
  
“Speaking of Makoto, we better hope she doesn’t catch us,” Ann said.  
  
“Why? Because we’re technically not supposed to be down here?” Ryuji asked.  
  
“Nah,” Ann replied. “It’d just be a shame to have to split the money three ways.”  
  
The tunnels snaked out around them, a maze of wooden railway tracks and shifting shadows, each tunnel looking just like the last. The only sense they were getting any closer to the surface, beside their own wordless intuition, was the air smelling cleaner, and the light getting brighter.  
  
“Ugh…” Ryuji groaned, starting to fall behind. “...it feels like we’ve been walking in circles…”  
  
“Don’t talk like that,” Ann glanced back at him, putting on a smile. “We’re not lost. We’re almost there. We’re… almost…”  
  
Ann froze.  
  
There was something behind them. A huge, hulking figure, robed in darkness, rattling chains…  
  
Ann heard a voice- small, stricken with terror. It took her a moment to realize it was hers.  
  
“We’ve stayed here too long,” Ann whispered, eyes wide. “Ryuji…”  
  
“What? What’s with that face?” Ryuji wondered. He turned. Swallowed. “...Oh.”  
  
The robed figure lifted a hand, pulling back the hammer on a huge, silver revolver.  
  
“So...” Ryuji swallowed hard. “...think we can take him…?”  
  
It fired, the roar of the gunshot deafeningly loud in the enclosed space. Ann yanked Ryuji behind a column. The shot tore past them, down the tunnel, trailing a vacuum wave so powerful it felt like a train was speeding past.  
  
Another roar. Another bang.  
  
Ryuji ducked, pulling Ann down. The pillar exploded right above their heads, showering them with debris. Ann winced into Ryuji’s chest as chunks of concrete bounced off Ryuji’s arm and his armored jacket, clattering like hail on a tin roof.  
  
Ann ducked out of cover, and raised a hand to her mask.  
  
“Carmen!”  
  
A geyser of flame erupted at the shadow’s feet. It passed through the flames, barely even flinching, leveling its long-barreled revolver and cocking the hammer.  
  
Ann jerked back into cover. The magicked shot went wide, striking the next pillar down and freezing it solid.  
  
Ann fell back into cover beside Ryuji. Another roar, another bang, and the frozen pillar shattered like glass.  
  
Ryuji grimaced. Just what the hell _was_ this thing?  
  
_We’re outgunned, mate_ , came a voice from within him. _We take a broadside like that, and we’re going under!_ _  
__  
_ “Ryuji,” Ann said, breathless. “Carmen says it’s time to go!”  
  
“You’re telling me!” Ryuji hissed. “But if we stick our heads out there-”  
  
Another gunshot rang through the tunnel. A distant pillar exploded, covered in shivering lightning.  
  
“That!” Ryuji said. “That’ll happen!”  
  
“How are we going to get out of this…?” Ann muttered, downcast.  
  
Ryuji swallowed hard. He caught Ann’s eyes.  
  
“...Alright. Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll go out first, get his attention. Then you can make a break for it.”  
  
“Ryuji…” Ann said softly. She laid a hand on Ryuji’s cheek, gazing into his eyes.  
  
Then she slapped him across the face.  
  
“Don’t you _ever_ give me a line like _that_ ,” Ann said, fire in her eyes. “We get out of this together, or not at all!” _  
_  
That was when they saw it- a light through the clouds, a glimmer of white in the shadowed depths. A white butterfly, flitting past.  
  
The robed figure saw it, too. It stared at the light, transfixed, lowering its guns at its sides. It turned, and followed the butterfly down the tunnel and back into the depths.  
  
Ann and Ryuji didn’t waste any time. They ran, and they didn’t stop running until they saw the light of day.  
  
They burst out onto the street, the murky darkness of Mementos melting away to the sharp clarity of the real world. Their masks and costumes vanished as they returned from the Metaverse, leaving the two of them doubled over, panting for breath, with a duffel bag full of cash and their lives remarkably intact.  
  
They flopped onto a park bench, still fighting to catch their breath. The people of Tokyo just bustled on by, oblivious. Ryuji wondered what he and Ann looked like, to them. Just two friends, on their way back from the gym. Not people who just escaped a monster by the skin of their teeth.  
  
“What the hell _was_ that?” Ryuji muttered. “Some kind of mega-Shadow?”  
  
“I don’t know.” Ann breathed. Their eyes met.  
  
All the adrenaline flooding their systems suddenly turned into something else. Ann and Ryuji grinned at each other. Grins became snickers. Eventually they were just laughing together, overwhelmed with relief, suffused with the sheer astonishment and gratitude for just being alive, being together.  
  
“Holy _shit_ ,” Ryuji giggled like an idiot. “We could have died!”  
  
“I know!” Ann cackled. “That was _awesome_!”  
  
They laughed until they were spent, giggles subsiding into content sighs. They leaned into each other, Ann bumping her head affectionately against Ryuji’s, like a cat.  
  
“You slapped me,” Ryuji said, playfully indignant.  
  
“Yeah, I slapped you,” Ann said. “You were about to pull some hero shit and get yourself killed.”  
  
“Well, I’m glad you did,” Ryuji grinned, squeezing the bag on his lap. “We got out of there. We got the goods. Everything went off without a hitch!”  
  
“I wouldn’t say that.”  
  
Ann and Ryuji snapped to attention.  
  
Makoto was standing in front of the station, arms tight across her chest. Her piercing red stare was cold and hard, but nonetheless, there was the trace of a smile on her lips.  
  
“Enjoying the weather, are we?” Makoto asked.  
  
“Makoto!” Ryuji said, shoving the ‘fundraising' bag into Ann’s arms. “Uh, lovely… day… isn’t it…?”  
  
Ann blinked down at the ill-gotten-gains cradled in her arms. “Um. Makoto. We can explain…”  
  
“Come on, you two,” Makoto smiled, but it was a dangerous smile. “Let’s take a walk.”  
_  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_**_II._** _We know what we’re doing. (We’re in over our heads.)_ _  
__  
__~*~_ _  
__  
__“Shiho, I am so, so sorry…”_  
  
“I understand,” Shiho said gently. “These things happen.”  
  
_“Listen, I’ll make it up to you. I’ll cook for you tonight. Then we can have a nice, home-cooked meal, just the two of us. How does that sound?”_  
  
“It needs to be real food, Ann, not just sweets. Are you sure you’re not just going to pick up ice cream on your way home?”  
  
_“I mean, I can’t_ ** _promise_** _I won’t get ice cream…”_  
  
“Ann.”  
  
_“Alright, alright. Are you gonna be okay until then?”_  
  
“I’ll be fine,” Shiho smiled. “I’ll see you tonight.”  
  
_“Yeah. See ya!”_  
  
Shiho tucked her phone away with a sigh, clasping her hands in her lap. She was sitting on a park bench near Shibuya Station, watching the crowds go by. She wondered if this was what it would be like to be a ghost, just watching the world go on without her. Nobody paid her so much as a passing glance.  
  
There was an odd sort of comfort to that. It was comfortable, being invisible. Really, only two people had ever had eyes for her. One of them was Ann. The other, well…  
  
He could rot in prison, for all she cared.  
  
The very thought of him made her head spin. Shiho shook the thought away, and let her vision settle back into place. She reached down and massaged her aching calves. The trip here had been… difficult, but it had been a labor of love. At least, until Ann flaked on her.  
  
_She stood you up,_ came the whisper in her ear, irritable, toxic. _She stranded you out here._  
  
“It’s not like that,” Shiho whispered. “Ann’s not like that.”  
  
Shiho pushed her frustration down, buried it. Ann got tied up. It wasn’t her fault.  
  
Shiho took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to let this get her down. It was a beautiful day, even if there were a few clouds speckling the horizon. She didn’t need Ann to lead her around by the hand. If she was going to be in Shibuya anyway, there was plenty she could do. She could still go to the diner, get something to eat. The gym was out, but she could still go to the arcade, maybe see a movie…  
  
Shiho frowned. The arcade would be crowded, and too noisy for her tastes. And seeing a movie without Ann wouldn’t be the same...  
  
_You just can’t do anything for yourself, can you?_  
  
Shiho shuddered. She ground the heel of her palm into her eyes.  
  
“Stop it,” she muttered, shaking. “Leave me alone. Just leave me _alone_ …” _  
__  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_ Across the city, Makoto was meeting Akira in his attic room at Cafe Leblanc. Akira watched her quietly as she opened up her binder and flipped through a sheaf of notes. Every so often, she’d pull out the mechanical pencil she had tucked behind her ear and would jot something down in her impeccable shorthand.  
  
Before Makoto joined the Phantom Thieves, they never took notes. They didn’t need to. They knew what they were good at, and they did it; Akira called the shots, Ann did the talking, Ryuji led the charge, Morgana fit into tight spaces, and Yusuke… well, he did his own thing.  
  
Ann was the beauty, Akira was the brains, Ryuji was the brawn. And then Makoto comes along, with an abundance of all three.  
  
There was a lot to admire about Makoto Niijima, Akira knew. Now here she was, in his room.  
  
It was just a shame she was here on business.  
  
“So,” Akira said, by way of conversation. “What happened to Ann and Ryuji?”  
  
“I gave them a stern talking to. Ryuji tried to placate me by bribing me with brunch, because, in his words, I ‘seemed like the brunch type’. Then, when I said that two in the afternoon was a little past brunch-time, he offered to buy me a late brunch instead.”  
  
“...Did you tell him that, at that point… it’s just lunch?”  
  
“I did,” Makoto said. “Then I treated them to crepes, because something sweet always takes the sting out of a scolding.”  
  
“I suppose you speak from experience.”  
  
“If you knew my sister, you’d know,” Makoto said. She primly pulled her binder shut and looked up at Akira, her red eyes flashing in the dim light- beautiful. Vivid. Dangerous. “But this isn’t about her, and it isn’t about them. This is about you.”  
  
Makoto pulled Akira’s duffel bag up off the floorboards and dropped it onto the table with a thud.  
  
“Or, rather, it’s about this.”  
  
“Oh!” Akira blinked, staring at the word ‘FUNDRAISING’ on the side of the bag. It was written in big block letters, in marker, and in his unmistakably messy hand. “You know, I was wondering where this bag had been. Thank you.”  
  
Makoto folded her arms across her chest. It wouldn’t be the last time Akira would be sitting across a table from a Niijima, drumming their fingers against their arm, fixed in those piercing red eyes as if he were in crosshairs.  
  
“You know the rules,” Makoto said. “You made them yourself, long before I ever joined the team. No one enters the Metaverse without backup, and especially not without Navigator support. No one goes after a target without unanimous approval.”  
  
“I don’t think anyone needs approval just to shake down nameless Shadows,” Akira said.  
  
“Anyone, or just those two?” Makoto pressed.  
  
Akira opened his mouth, then closed it again. Makoto’s expression softened.  
  
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate to make exceptions like this.”  
  
Akira sighed. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. If you or Yusuke ever want to go into Mementos and do some ‘fundraising’ in your free time, you’re free to do it, too.”  
  
Makoto balked at him. “That’s not what I mean! Are you even taking this seriously?”  
  
“I am!”  
  
“Oh, like when you lost 100,000 yen to some con artist in Shinjuku?”  
  
“I got that back! ...Eventually!”  
  
“Or how about earlier this week, when you spent another 20,000 yen going to the amusement park?”  
  
Akira faltered. “...Okay, yeah, that one was-”  
  
“You are the leader of this team,” Makoto said, stabbing an accusing finger into Akira’s chest. Neither of them remembered when they’d gotten to their feet. “ _You_ are responsible for them. _All_ of them! Not just the ones who currently hold your _fancy_!”  
  
The intensity of Makoto’s conviction made Akira’s heart race. Having her so close, with so much fire in her eyes… it was something, alright. He was almost disappointed when she took a deep breath and stepped back.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Makoto exhaled. “That was a terrible thing to say.”  
  
“No, I’m sorry,” Akira said. “It must be frustrating, trying to get us organized when before, we were just making it up as we went along. And I know it must _look_ like I’m being flippant and not taking this seriously, but I promise you, I am.”  
  
Makoto shrugged and sat down, deflated. Suddenly, this all felt so… childish. “There are rules,” she said, lamely.  
  
“Rules are fluid,” Akira went on. “Like love. Come on, if I made exceptions for everyone I had feelings for, I’d have to make exceptions for the whole team.”  
  
Makoto smiled, despite everything. “What are you saying, Akira? That all you have are relationships of convenience?”  
  
“That’s not at all what I’m saying,” Akira continued. “I’m saying it’s about trust. I trust Ryuji. I trust Ann. I trust Yusuke. I could trust you, too. If you let me. If it’s what you want.”  
  
Makoto smirked, intrigued. “...You wear so many different faces, Akira. How do I know which one to trust? How do I know which one is the truth?”  
  
“Why can’t it be all of them?” Akira asked.  
  
“Because then you’d have a heart full of secrets, and promises to keep.”  
  
“If I promise you _my_ heart, Makoto, it won’t be a secret.”  
  
“Careful, you,” Makoto smiled. “This isn’t a social call.”  
  
“More’s the pity,” Akira said lightly. “What else do we need to discuss?”  
  
The playful mood faded, and turned somber. Makoto pulled out her phone, and tapped an icon. Her phone screen displayed the familiar black and red interface of the Metaverse Navigator.  
  
“There _is_ one thing I wanted to ask you,” Makoto said, her voice low. “About a hit in the Metaverse.”  
  
Akira jolted upright. “How do you know about Shiho Suzui?”  
  
“Ann’s best friend? No, this is about… my…” Makoto blinked. “Wait, _what_ about her? What’s happening to Shiho?”  
_  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_**_III._** _It’s under control. (I’m losing control...)_ _  
__  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_ Ann stood in line at the store, eyes clouded, lost in thought. After their misadventure with Makoto, she and Ryuji had parted ways- but not before Ryuji had shown her this little hole-in-the-wall shop, and told her not to be late for her ‘date’.  
  
Pfft. _Now_ who’s making it weird, Ryuji?  
  
This was just a… girl thing. Ryuji wouldn’t understand. Akira wouldn’t either. Shiho was her best friend. Shiho was a girl. Girls hug other girls all the time. Girls brush each other’s hair, and have sleepovers, and share clothes, and hold hands, and…  
  
_Makoto_ would understand. She was a girl. _She’d_ know that it was different with girls, than with guys.  
  
She loved Shiho. And Shiho loved her- she said as much, a month ago when she and Akira helped her climb up to the roof of Shujin Academy again.  
  
Shiho hugged her and said she loved her. But that was just a matter of fact, not some… _confession_. Just like how she was going to cook dinner for Shiho, not because it was a date, but because Shiho made breakfast. And now she was getting her this gift to make up for getting tied up and flaking on lunch. It was only fair.  
  
That was just a girl thing. And so was this.  
  
_You’re a terrible liar_ , Carmen said into her ear.  
  
“Hush,” Ann whispered. It was her turn in line.  
  
“Hello, dear,” the clerk said, as she picked out a ribbon and a tag for Ann’s chocolates. “Are you getting these for someone special?”  
  
Ann smiled. “Yes, thank you. I am.”  
  
~*~  
  
Ann ran inside just after the rain started sheeting down, kicking the door shut behind her. She groaned, trailing water all the way into the kitchen. She haphazardly threw her grocery bags into the fridge, before opening up the pantry and hiding Shiho’s gift with a bit more care.  
  
“God, Shiho, it is _pouring_ outside…” Ann said, wringing her pigtails out into the sink. “And just when I got to the door, too! If only I’d gotten here just a _little_ sooner…”  
  
It was quiet. Deathly quiet. Aside from the rain slopping against the walls and the roof, the house didn’t make a sound at all.  
  
“Shiho?” Ann called. She turned away from the kitchen sink, peering into the living room, up the staircase.  
  
“Shiho?” _  
__  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_**_IV._** _She’s just a friend. (She’s always been…)_ _  
__  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_ Shiho’s afternoon passed by in an eyeblink. She went to the diner, visited the arcade, browsed the underground shopping mall, went to see a movie. She wished she could have done all this with Ann, instead of going alone.  
  
But she was never alone. The voice followed her wherever she went, whispering poison, fouling her mood.  
  
Then, as Shiho was making her way back to the train station, the voice did more than whisper.  
  
Shiho was a block away from the station when it happened. When the sun had fully set, and the sky had filled with clouds, dark and heavy with rain.  
  
A drop of red fell from the sky and stained her vision. Shiho blinked, but the stain wouldn’t go away. She watched, frozen in her tracks, as it spread across her eyes. Static spread across the screens mounted on the walls. Every brick, every tile, took on that sickly red hue…  
  
Shiho ground the heels of her palms into her eyes, but her vision didn’t settle back into place.  
  
This was a dream. This was just a bad dream, another souvenir from her stay in the hospital, alongside the pain in her legs, the whispers, the dissociation.  
  
But this didn’t feel like a dream. And it didn’t feel like her dissociation. Three months ago, you couldn’t mention the name Suguru Kamoshida without her blacking out for hours at a time. She’d catch his name on the news, glimpse a headline about the scandal at Shujin Academy, and that was enough to send her over the edge. The world would shatter into shapes and shadows and splotches of color, until her meds put her out, or Ann brought her back.  
  
This didn’t feel like that at all.  
  
This was wrong.  
  
This was very wrong.  
  
A hand closed over Shiho’s arm and she shrieked.  
  
“Watch your step, young miss!” A man said- an older man, in a suit, with a receding hairline and a polka-dotted tie. “You almost fell down the stairs!”  
  
Shiho’s vision swam. In one world, a staircase. In another, a tunnel, stained with red…  
  
Pain surged through Shiho’s limbs. She took a halting step forward. The man leaned forward, studying her eyes.  
  
“...Young miss, are you… feeling well…?”  
  
“... _Let go of me_ …” She growled. He released her arm with a start.  
  
Shiho shuddered, and took another shaky step. The crowd parted around her, barely sparing her a passing glance. A moment later, the crowd vanished entirely, giving way to a desolate, twilit gloom.  
  
The voice came to her again, not a whisper in her ear, but rising up through the tunnels, a rumbling echo like thunder in the distance.  
  
_This has gone on long enough. Now, you’re mine._  
  
“ _Let go of me!”_ Shiho screamed, as she took another unwilling step into the dark. “ ** _Let go!_** ” _  
__  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_**_V. Everything’s_** **_fine_** _..._ _  
__  
__~*~_ _  
__  
_ Akira stood on Cafe Leblanc’s doorstep under a too-small awning, gazing out at the suddenly torrential rain. Sojiro was inside at the bar, grumbling about how the rain had to spoil a perfectly good day of business.  
  
Akira went ahead and flipped the “Open” sign over to “Closed”. If Sojiro hadn’t given up on the rest of the evening yet, he would soon. No one ever came to Leblanc when it rained, especially if it meant stepping out into _this_.  
  
Still, Akira stood out in it, while the awning above him valiantly attempted to keep him any less than completely soaked. He stood there, surrounded by rain and dreary gray, lost in thought.  
  
He stuck his hands in his pockets, and felt the familiar weight of his phone. He slipped it out, tapping an app icon of an eye with a star for the pupil, in black and red.  
  
_“Welcome to Metaverse Navigation. Please state your query.”_  
  
He raised his phone to his lips.  
  
“Shiho Suzui.”  
  
There was a chime.  
  
_“One match found. Please specify your destination.”_  
  
“Gymnasium,” Akira guessed. Nothing. “Hospital. Volleyball Court. ...Rooftop…?”  
  
Akira sighed. It was useless.  
  
The MetaNav detected a distortion in the Metaverse related to Shiho Suzui, but that alone wasn’t enough to go on. She might have a Shadow. She might even have a Palace. But even if she did, they still needed to know the form her Palace would take, and where the entry point would be in reality.  
  
They needed more information. Until then, they could do nothing.  
  
It was the same conclusion he and Makoto had come to that afternoon, but it still didn’t sit right with him.  
  
Was waiting really all they could do…?  
  
The rain spattered against the street and misted in the air. Akira thought he saw something- a white light, perhaps a butterfly- but it was too far away, and vanished into the fog before he could be sure.  
  
His phone buzzed in his hand. New message.  
  
Akira opened the chat and his heart sank.  
  
“Oh, no,” Akira muttered. He combed his fingers through his hair. “No, no, no…”  
  
Ann’s icon blinked urgently on his screen.  
  
_‘Has anybody seen Shiho?’_ _  
__  
__~*~_

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: Barbatos, demon of greed, consistently gives unusually high amounts of Macca when you use the 'Fundraise' option in SMT IV and SMT IV: Apocalypse. 
> 
> The Phantom Thieves swore themselves to each other, through the good times and the bad... and things are about to get pretty bad. I hope you enjoyed this installment of the Tailwind series, and I hope you'll join me for the next one: The Longest Night.


End file.
